Official Community Plan - Bylaw No. 18020

BYLAW NO. 18020 | OCTOBER 20, 2014

CHALLENGE #2: Match Population Growth with Business Development and Employment Opportunities Key to supporting a sustainable community is developing a robust and diverse local economy which provides a wide range of jobs close to where people live. Over the past 50 years, as Surrey has transi tioned from a rural economy to a suburban “bedroom” community, and then to a more integrated urban community, the balance of local jobs to the size of the labour force has also changed. Currently Surrey has approximately 0.70 jobs for every member of the labour force. A key planning challenge is to move this ratio closer to a balance of 1:1 which becomes more imperative in the context of strong population increases. The benefits of a better balance of local jobs to population include reduced time spent com muting, reduced traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions, a more resilient economy, and a di versified tax base reducing the burden of property taxes on residential properties. The goal of the OCP is to accommodate an additional 125,400 jobs over the 30-year planning horizon (see Table 2).

Surrey Projected Employment Growth Year Jobs

2012

171,200

2017

195,200

2021

214,200

Table 2

2026

236,200

2031

257,950

2036

277,450

2041

296,600

SOURCE: City of Surrey and Metro Vancouver NOTE : Dwelling Unit s refer to occupied units.

PLANNING CONTEXT

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